Fandoms get their own categories at the People's Choice Awards

There's something new in the nominations for the 2013 People's Choice Awards—and we don't just mean the presence of Dame Maggie Smith.

In keeping with the incredible mainstreaming and acknowledgment of fandom within wider media and pop culture in 2012, this year's People's Choice includes two separate categories for best fandoms: "Favorite TV Fan Following" and "Favorite Movie Fan Following."

Though it's hard to judge how influential a single fandom can be, we're pretty sure getting your fandom on the ballot in a popularity contest voted on by millions of people annually is a good indicator. Nine million people tuned in to last year's People's Choice Awards, and over 230 million votes were cast. Reportedly more than 93 million votes were cast in choosing this year's nominees alone, with many fans voting more than once for their favorite franchises, actors, and musicians.

So who were the lucky fans whose fandoms could win at this year's awards? Take a look:

The nominees for "Favorite Movie Fan Following" are:

Potterheads, the affectionate nickname for fans of Harry Potter

Ringers, the name given to fans of The Lord of the Rings

Rum Runners, the name for fans of Pirates of the Caribbean

Tributes, for fans of The Hunger Games

Twihards, for perennial People's Choice favorite Twilight

And the nominees for "Favorite TV Fan Following" are:

Gleeks, a.k.a. fans of popular high school musical drama Glee

Little Liars, fans of another high school show, Pretty Little Liars

Oncers, fans of modern fairy tale remix Once Upon a Time

SPNFamily, fans of long-running Supernatural

TVDFamily, fans of new favorite The Vampire Diaries

Now for the real question, which we may learn when People's Choice airs on Wednesday night: Who actually gets the trophy when an entire fandom wins the award?

It’s all led to this.
There are an endless number of contenders for the top spots of this year’s top 10 fandoms list. Throughout the last 12 months, a number of fandoms have been vocal, passionate, and rambunctious. If we had room, we’d love to put fans of such media juggernauts as The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Glee, and Twilight.